Door-latch construction



l Apri12s,19z5. l 1,535,138

H. T. THOMAS` DOOR LATCH CONSTRUCT.ION

Filed Sept. 29, 1920 v /f ,j 13 lll l 15 a 'x 'l' l du lI IVIVIIIIIIII -4 lNvE ToR 7,`

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 2s, 1925.

UNITED STTES `litrizlar OFFICE.

HORACE T. THOMAS, or LANsING, MICHIGAN-assuma To :tno MOTOR" CAB. Conr-` PANY, F LANSING, YMICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OIF MICHIGAN.

noon-LATCH CONSTRUCTION.

Application ill'ed September 29, 1920. Serial No. 413,466. i

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE T.'THoMAs, United States citizen, residing in Lansing, Michigan, have invented the following de- 6 scribed Improvements in Door-Latch Constructions. p

Theinvention has special reference to the door-holding means of automotive vehicles, its object being to simplify the manufacture l and improve the appearance of the latch and jamb structures of such vehicles, and

, to facilitate the4 adjustment of the latch lmechanism and of the bumper so that the door may be easily kept tight against rattling. These and other objects are attained by the structure herein disclosed, the several features of which will be seen to be capable of independent use although they are more suitably' used in a single combination as -.illustrated in ythe accompanying drawing which shows the preferred form of the inventiom Fig. 1 represents the inside surface of a part of the side wall and the door of a 25, motor vehicle according to this invention.'

Fig. 2 shows the door jamb and its socket vmember in elevation on larger scale;

Fig. 3 is-a larger scale horizontal sectionl through fthe latch mechanism; y

Fig. 4 is a similar scale detail of the socket member in position; and

Fig. 5 illustrates the mode of adjustment thereof. In these drawings, the door comprises a .35 suitable frame'l provided on its ou-ter side with a covering of sheet metal 2, and on.

its vinner side with fabric or the like, as usual. It is hinged to one of the similarly covered jambs of the frame of the vehlcle body, and carries a suitable lock or latch `3, thefbevelled bolt of which is ada tedy to engage the striker and keeper mem ers on the opposite jamb 4. The detall of the structure of the door and vehicle body 1s unimportant. The door however is formed with a projecting flange 5 in substantlally the lane of its outer covering arranged to overlap or conceal the crevice between the door and body wall and such flange may be 5 formed by merely extending the sheet metal covering 2 beyond the door stile or edge of the door body and folding it back on itself,

. but I prefer to fasten an 'angle bar 6 to the face of the door stile and fold the metal covering over the projecting web of this bar as. indicated in the drawing, thereby p rovldlng a neat overlap which has suiiclent stiffness to serve also as a stop-{iange for the door to limit its closing movement. The other web of the angle bar 6, which is screwed to the door stile, may be covered with any suitable trim or may itself serve as the permanent finish of the door edge, such edge being flat, i. e., without the usual rabbeted shoulder. When the overlap serves as a s -top-,ilange the bumper against which t. strlkes and to which it is held by the atch mechanism, is formed as a thin flat strip 7 of rubber or otheryielding material mounted atv or in the corner of the door jamb and extending a considerable vertical distance thereon, preferably for the' full height of the door opening, so that it giras the general appearance of an ornamental bead on the jamb. Such a bumper affords an eliective contact surface for engagement by the door and may be secured in place in various ways but it is preferably set into a rabbet groove cut in the j'amb post 4 and held in place ltherein by a metal strip or plate 8 screwed directly to the jamb, or

edge face ofthe body wall. By preference this plate covers substantially the whole of the jamb, as shown in Fig. 2, in which case 1t may be said to constitute a jamb-lining for the doorway giving a neat llat surface to Ithe edge of the Awall like the opposing edge of the door, i. e., without the customary shoulder or stop bead. The edge of the body covering 9 (Fig. 3) is turned into the bumper groove so as to be concealed by the bumper, andso that .the latter 'forms the corner of the jamb giving a neat and pleasing effect. e It' is ap arent, that. as the bumper strips wears own in use it can be lreadily set Outward by removing the jamb lining and inserting a piece of cardboard or the like behind it.

The plate 8 may also serve as the striker for the bolt 3 of the latch-mechanism, i. e. as' themember first en aged by thebevelled side of thebolt, or a on which it slides, when the door is closed, ut the keeper or socket for the bolt is independent of the striker plate, is more or less concealed by it and is adapted to be adjusted independently of-it.

As exemplified bythe preferred form herein shown, the keeper is made of a ilat metal blank bent to form a socket or boltholding part, marked 10, and an attachment plate, marked 11, which latter is disposed at a right-angle to the socket part and pro-v vided with screw holes so that it may be screwed directly to the lside face of the wall structure as shown in the drawings, in which position it supports the socket part 10 in a recess 12 cut in the jamb post directly behind an aperture or notch in the striker late or jamb-lining 8 and where the latch lt may enter.y it. The bolt-holding part of the keeper is thus supported between the proxima-te edges of the door and wall inde' pendently of the plate 8, although it may be additionally supported by said plate or by the recess 12 or both as will be evident. The attachment plate 11 may be nickelled or enameled so that itfcan be exposed on the interior surface of the wall as shown in the drawings, where it is applied over the guimp 13 of the interior lining of the vehicle body,

, tain said engagement.

2. In combination, an automobile door guimp if desired so as to be concealed thereby. In either case the bolt-holding part 10 can be adjusted inward or outward, that is to say, in the direction of the door-closingmovement by the simple expedient of backing off the keeper screws and removing -or inserting shims under the attachment plate n as indicated at 14 in Fig. 5 and in this manner the door can be made to close and latch tightly against its stop or bumper.

The bolt-engagingpart of a keeper capa ble of adjustmentin the manner above d escribed may be variously shaped and variously mounted in the jamb, or in the ca se of a reversal, in the door stile, and it mav be so shaped as to furnish an auxiliary or safety socket for the bolt as sometimes used. It is preferably rigidly mounted and confined behind the margin of the notch in the plate 8 so as to be the least conspicuous from the outside although, again, the functions and many of the advantages of the construction would not be impaired if the said socket member were otherwise disposed.

I claimi 1. In combination, an automobile door frame having a covering constituting the external wall 'of the door'extended in substantially the plane of the outer surface of the door and serving as an overlap and stopiiange, a jamb having a bumper of extended vertlcal dimension engaged by the stoplange, and bevel latch mechanism to restructure hinged to one of the jambs of the vehlcle body and stopped in its closing movement by its engagement with the other jamb and comprising an overlappingstopflange, the latter jamb having a bead-like bumper of extended vertical dimension dismotive vehicles; a door having an overla l ping stop-flange, a jamb carrying aubea like veitical strip bumper engagedfby the fla-nge and an attached jamb-liningzconfining the bumper. v

4. Door latch construction for automotive vehicles, comprising in combination with the door and its latch bolt.va jamb provided with a bumper of extended vertical dimension, a

Vkeeper on the jamb and a plate, formed independently of said parts, covering substantially the wholeof saidejamb and overlying the bumper and keeper.

5. Door latch coristruction for automotive vehicles comprising a door having a nonrabbeted edge and provided with a stoplange in the plane of its outer surface and with a latch bolt, in combination with a jamb having a strip bumper for engagement by the stop-flange and a substantially fiat plate confining the bumper to the jam and covering substantially the whole of said jamb, and provided with an aperture for the entry of the bolt.

.6. Door latch construction comprisin in combination with the structure of the oor and wall, a latch bolt on onestructure and a keeper on the other, the latter comprising,

is adjustable in the direction ofthe door closing movement.

7. Door latch construction comprising in combination with the structures of the floor and its wall, a latch bolt on one Structure Yand a bumper and keeper on the other, said keeper comprising a bolt-holding part be tween the proximate edges of the said structures, and a supporting plate for said part extending parallel with the plane of said structures and adapted to be. secured to one of them at different distances ofrom the bumper.

8. Door latch construction for automotive vehicles, comprising in combination with the structures of the door and wall, a bumper' located at the corner formed by the edge and outer surfaces of the wall structure, a keeper comprising an attachment plate secured to lthe inner surface of said wall structure and a socket member-occupying a position between said structures and supported in such position by said `attachment plate.

9. Door latch construction for automoJ tive vehicles comprising.-a door carrying a latch bolt and having a non-rabbeted edge `recess formed insaid non-rabbeted edge.

10. Door latch construction comprising an apertured plate secured to the door jamb, a

. 13. Door bolt socket and keeper behind the aperture and means whereby said keeper may be adj usted and held in adjustment independently of the means which secure the plate to the jamb and parallel thereto.

11. Indoor latch construction, a jamb, a jamb-lining attached thereto and a keeper on the jamb behind 'the lining provided with supporting means whereby it may. be adjusted independently of the attachment means of the lining inthe direction of the doorclosing movement.'`

12. Door latch construction comprising door and wall' structure, an apertured" plate secured to the edge of the wall structure and serving as a striker, and a keeper supported on the side Vsurface of said wall structure and provided with a bolt socket behind said aperture. A v

latch constructionV comprising in combination, a bumper, an apertured plate securing VLthe4 same 1n position and a bolt socket behind the aperture in said plate.

- relatively to said plate and bumper.

14. Door latch construction comprising a `jamb, a plate covering the whole of the jamb and serving as a striker, an aperture in the vplate and an adjustable keeper in rear ofthe plate.

. specification.

15. An automobile door hinged at one i arranged to be'stopped in its closing movement solely by engagement with the other jamb, in combination with a strip bumper mounted on the latter jamb'to simulate an ornamental bead running vertically thereon.

1 1 16. An automobile door, a vehicle body having a jamb and an outer covering therefor, and a strip form door bumper mounted on the jamb and concealing the edge of said body covering.

" 17. An automobile body wall having' a jamb provided with a rabbet groove andan 1 outer covering with its edge bent into the r'abbet groove, a strip bumper in said groove and a jamb plate confining or overlying said bumper. p

Y 18. Door latch construction for automotive vehicles, comprising in combination a door and its latch-bolt, a jamb, a bumper on the vjamb, a separately formed keeper on the the door movement independently of said.

plate.

d 19. In combination, an automobile door structure hinged to one of the jambs of the vehicle body andprovided with a latch bolt, a vertically extended strip-forni bumper associated withfthe other jamb, a keeper for the latch-bolt mounted on the latter jamb and means whereby said keeper may be adjusted inl the direct-ion of the door-closing movement independently of said bumper.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this HORACE T. THOMAS. y

edge to one of two jambs of the vehicle body. .an 

